CHRISTIANSBURG (WSLS 10) - The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is the first police agency in the country to use new technology which many say could be the difference between life and death.

The Automatic Injury Detection Panels fit on officers' vests and they can detect when an officer has been shot or stabbed.

The panels then immediately send an alert through cell phone and radio to all other officers, dispatchers and other emergency responders. It gives an exact location, where the officer was injured and what type of injury it is.

"This day, to us, means possibly saving one of my deputy's lives one day," said Sheriff Hank Partin. "I hope we can spread this technology far and wide."

Montgomery County spent about $86,000 to purchase the panels and radio technology for every officer.